


The unstoppable and the immovable

by raggedy_ginger



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Torchwood
Genre: Doctor/Companion Friendship, F/F, F/M, Gen, Gender-neutral Reader, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Romantic Friendship, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 22:44:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19282717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raggedy_ginger/pseuds/raggedy_ginger
Summary: Not every companion agrees with the Doctor's mostly pacifist ways. If you have human companions you're bound to pick up one that would rather punch the dicktators of space than be nice to them.Inspired by the urge I get to punch the villains and assholes of Doctor Who instead of letting the Doctor do the sensible thing.





	The unstoppable and the immovable

1  
"Can't I just, ya know" I made a gun with my fingers and let out a 'pew' noise. The Doctor looked at me with some type of aghast expression.  
"You can't just go round wanting to shoot people!" His firm reprimand was loud in the room that contained the man I was proposing we shoot.  
"He literally just spaced a bunch of people because they were inconvenient." I deadpanned and he seemed to take a second to think about that.  
"No." He shook his head and slung his arm around my shoulders. His leather jacket was warm and heavy, a comforting weight. "We don't kill people, we save em. Now be civil and smile at the murderous dictator. We have to negotiate."  
He said through his teeth as he dragged me over to the asshole. 

His grip was suspiciously tight on me during the whole negotiation process. I'm sure it was because he thought I needed the comfort. 

2.  
"How do we deal with a rampaging alien with no capacity for empathy?" Donna asked incredulously as the Doctor dashed about the TARDIS, his coat flapping along behind him.  
"Death." I said absently while sitting on a chair and fiddling with the Sonic Screwdriver.  
"No!" The Doctor objected and snatched the Sonic from my hand.  
I shrugged and looked at Donna with a 'what can ya do' face.  
"You know he never agrees to my plans." I complained and she cocked an eyebrow at me.  
"Is it because they all involve murder?"  
"No."  
"Yes." The Doctor and I said at the same time and she snorted. 

3.  
He stopped me at the door of the TARDIS and gave me an expectant look.  
"You look as disappointed as my parents. What did I do now?" I sighed and his face softened a little.  
"Pockets. Empty em." He was unfairly tall and I had to look up at him. I could have sworn that at least two inches of his height was hair and gel.  
"Doctor, I'll have you know that my pockets are personal-" He arched an eyebrow and I sighed and started going through my pockets. "Fine." 

There were several thuds as I dropped some of the junk onto the floor.  
Stress ball, battery, tiny torch, chocolate bar.  
Ah, and-  
"Is that a tazer?!" He half yelled as he looked down at the offending item in my hand.  
"Yeah, it's for protection. Non-fatal." I felt nervous, like I'd been caught with contraband at the airport. Which... I suppose was what this was.  
"That's enough voltage to kill some species!" He had that disapproving voice.

"Okay, then tazer is out. What about mace?" I tossed the tazer to the floor and pulled out the can of pepper spray.  
His disapproving silence answered for me and I chucked the can to the floor and put my hands on my hips.  
"So what can I take then?" I huffed aggressively. The way he looked at me got my hackles up.  
"No weapons. You know how I feel about them."  
"That's ridiculous. How am I supposed to defend us when we get shot at or imprisoned again?"  
"You use your brain! You let me handle it!" He waved his long arms and I glared up at him.  
"You get to take the Sonic! Why can't I take anything?" I pointed at the silver device poking out of his coat pocket and he glared back at me.  
"It's a Sonic Screwdriver, it fixes things. It's not a weapon." He replied haughtily and I snorted.  
"I've seen you blow up a bunch of things with it. You melted that one person with it last week." I shot back and he hesitated.  
I let out a heavy breath and forced myself to relax.  
"Look, Doc, I just want something with me that I can defend myself with if it comes to that. If you've got something that's non-fatal to everyone but gives me enough time to get away... I'll take it." I said quietly and he sighed and rubbed his face.  
"Alright, that- that's fair." 

I wrapped my arm around his skinny waist and felt relieved when his long arms slung over my shoulders.

4.  
Amy was pretty great. She was smart and brave and had a far more complimentary view to the Doctor's opinion of violence and guns than I did. Plus she was Scottish. 

"So does he always do this?" She asked as she joined me at the TARDIS.  
"He does alot of things." I said dryly as we watched our Doctor say goodbye to River.  
"The saving everyone thing." I smiled at that.  
"Yeah. Everywhere he goes, he saves people. Whether they deserve it or not." My tone soured as I looked at the cuffed group of saboteurs who had caused the ship we'd been on to lose all power. He could have left them on that ship and no one would have disagreed.  
"You wanted them to suffer." Amy pointed out and I pulled my jacket tighter around me.  
"There were kids on that ship. If it hadn't been for us then they would have suffocated."  
There was silence for a moment after that before Amy's hand came to rest on my shoulder.  
"I get it. He does too. He just can't give into that sort of thing." She murmured as we watched our friend stride over to the blue box with a grin on his face.  
"I'm glad he doesn't." I replied softly.  

5.  
"Kill it with fire."  
"How would you like it if someone said that about you?"  
"I'd understand. I'm very intimidating to most people. Wanting to kill me and take my power is a natural reaction."  
"I..."  
"Doctor, the dog sized cockroach is skittering over to you now."  
The high pitched scream that followed was ingrained in bystander's memories forever. 

6.  
"So since you got these new eyebrows do you feel anymore inclined towards beating up Nazis ?" I asked over coffee in a little shop in Cardiff.  
His new eyebrows got into attack formation. (He frowned.)  
"One of us has to be a pacifist." He said in that growly voice.  
"So you're saying that my role as the righteous defender is also needed?"  
"You're more of a dangerous reprobate that I prefer to have under my supervision."  
"Gosh, this regeneration of you is by far the most accepting of my completely valid preservation instincts." I said happily.  
"Glad someone's not disappointed." He grumbled and I patted his shoulder for a second before remembering that he didn't like touching now.  
"I like the new face. Clara does too, she just wanted to kiss the old one alot more. But she'll come round. Trust me." I reassured and was relieved to see that his eyebrows eased up a bit and he grunted in a way that wasn't disagreement. 

7.  
"I'm gonna fight Christopher Columbus." I announced while cracking my knuckles.  
Bill looked at me and nodded.  
"I can get behind that." She agreed.  
"No!" Was the Scottish objection from the Doctor.  
I rolled my eyes and bumped my hip against Bill's.  
"He always says that. But I got to punch Stalin once. He lost a tooth and got a concussion." I grinned proudly. "Best day of my life."  
The Doctor joined the two of us at the doors and waved his finger threateningly at me.  
"That was a once off event." He said unconvincingly and I hummed at him and waited until he burst through the doors ahead of us and we walked out behind him at a sensible pace. 

"I'll hold back the Doc and you throw fists with Columbus?" I whispered to her and she flashed a cheeky smile back at me.  
"Deal." 

8.  
"I have a proposition for you." I declared in the new console room as the Doctor and I sprawled out on the floor.  
"I thought you had a partner." She replied absently while smacking her Sonic into working.  
"Not that type of proposition!" I squawked and flicked her arm. "Besides we broke up a few months ago."  
She grunted and I took that as a segue into the next part of the conversation.  
"I've been with you for a long time, yeah?" I turned my head to look at her lying a meter away from me.  
"Yeah, probably the only one." She said and turned to me with a soft smile that melted my heart.  
"Uh well. I wanted to propose a punch card. You know like the ones at the 2077 Cinnabon?"  
She directed all of her attention to me at the mention of Cinnabon and I laughed at her wide eyed expression. "But what would be revolutionary about this one is that it would be a literal punch card!"  
Her eyebrows went up at this point as she gave me a patronizing look.  
"Hear me out!" I whined. Her unimpressed look intensified. "I have a very good argument!" She propped her head up so that she could look down at me. There was something about looking up at her like this, just the two of us lying on the floor together. Something that made my face burn and my tongue stick in my mouth.

"I uh, didn't think you'd hear me out." I mumbled and dropped my gaze to the floor, suddenly feeling shy.  
The Doctor laughed and reached over to pat my shoulder. I went to flick her hand out of habit but she caught my hand before I did and I made petulant noises at her.  
A small struggle ensued before she crowed in success as she finally threaded her fingers between mine and effectively took my hand captive.  
"This is mine now." She said seriously while holding up our joined hands.  
"Ugh. You're so touchy." I moaned but there was no bite to it.  
"I really rubbed off on you too much when I was Scottish." She mused and I grumbled again. 

9.  
"So how did you and the Doc meet?" Graham asked me as the humans of Team TARDIS sat on the floor together as we sorted through the massive pile of fake Sonic screwdrivers. I glanced at the Doctor through the doorway to the other room. She was looking at something sciencey and complex that I didn't understand. 

"I met her like most people do; a fridge in the store tried to eat me and he, well she, blew it up."  
"Gotta say, even after everything we've seen that still surprises me." Ryan commented in a pleasantly surprised voice that made me laugh.  
"So how long have you been travelling with her then?" Yaz asked as I threw another fake Sonic to the side after it made chicken noises.  
"Uhhhh, I first met her after I graduated high school. So I was around... Eighteen. And I'm now... erm." I trailed off as I started trying to count the years on my fingers before giving up with a sigh. "Doctor how old am I?" I yelled to her. 

She stopped poking at something and starting counting something on her fingers.  
The other three humans laughed as they watched her mirror exactly what I'd done.  
"I forgot. Must have gotten lost in the regeneration process." She called back apologetically.  
I brushed aside the brief feeling of hurt and twirled a Sonic that glowed neon green.  
"You said that your Sonic was made out of spoons you melted, didn't you?" I said out loud.  
"Yeah, also reminds me that I need to back up my phone storage." Ryan muttered with a dark look to the Doctor.  
I smacked the fake Sonic against the ground and the tacky noise sparked something in the Doctor's eyes.  
"The fakes are plastic!" We yelled at the same time and there was a sudden mad scramble for anything that could be added to her magnet contraption. 

Covered in ectoplasm and thoroughly exhausted I trodded into the TARDIS behind everyone else and proudly dumped the armful of sticky fake sonics into the box labeled with my name that was full of my adventure stuff to be sorted out later.  
"Right, I am heading for the showers and then maybe the decontamination room too." I announced to the others as they headed off to catch a quick nap before they were dropped off at home or dragged into another adventure.  
As I passed the console the Doctor gently caught my hand and stopped me. I looked at her questioningly.  
"You're twenty five. According to the TARDIS anyway, but she might be knocking it down cos she likes you." The eye roll she added made me laugh before I realized I'd been with the Doctor for much longer than I'd thought.  
"You know time flies when I'm with you." I said dorkily and she snorted and nudged me towards the showers.  
"Go on, and well done on not punching anyone today!"  
"Not anyone that you know of!" I sang over my shoulder when I reached the relative safety of the doorway to the corridors. 

10.  
I watched the other three humans hold council on a bench outside a closed fish and chips shop.  
"We need somewhere for the Doctor to stay." Yaz said seriously. "She can't stay with me, the flat is too small."  
"Well those aliens know where Ryan and I live and that'll be the first place they look when they find out she's not in the TARDIS." Graham argued and started the whole debate over again.  
So far they'd ruled out the hotel down the road and the abandoned warehouse that we'd established was haunted. 

I pushed off the wall and walked towards the Doctor standing on the edge of the beach.  
She looked rather moody and picturesque as the wind whipped her jacket dramatically.  
"The parents are arguing over custody again." I said as I joined her.  
"They could always send me to summer camp." Was her dry retort.  
"Or you could stay at your best mate's house." I offered while staring determinedly at the crashing waves.  
I still saw her smile in my peripheral.  
"And who would my best mate be?" She asked cheekily and I bumped my shoulder into her side.  
"Shut it and let's go tell the parents that a lawyer isn't necessary."

"So you have a house..."  
"Yes, Graham."  
"An actual house on Earth?" Ryan joined in on the interrogation.  
"Yes."  
"It's not a spaceship or something you stole is it?" Yaz butted in while leaning forward from the back seat until I shooed her back.  
"No, Yaz. It's a house. It's got plumbing and a kettle and all that stuff. And I didn't steal it!" I huffed as the several hour drive with the five of us crammed into Graham's car started to get to me.  
"So why didn't we take the TARDIS to get to your house then?" Ryan asked in a similarly irritated voice.  
I let out a little cough and took extra care while indicating and checking before I turned onto the dirt road that led to my home.  
"Um, there's a weak shielding placed around the property. It's just enough to throw the TARDIS off course without it being noticeable." I explained awkwardly. 

The car was silent except for the tinny sounds of Ed Sheeran singing his future presidential campaign song on the radio.  
"You..." The Doctor started to say but trailed off.  
As the car finally struggled over the crest of the hill my house came into view and I felt some part of me that I never knew was tense relax. There was nothing like coming home.  
I parked the car in front of the garage and we all climbed out of the car, stretching out cramped limbs and enjoying air that wasn't breathed out by each other. 

I sighed happily as I walked over to the door and pulled the necklace I always wore over my head. The key attached to the chain slotted perfectly into the lock, and with just a light kick to the corner of the door it opened.  
The old farmhouse was quiet and cold and I wondered how long it had been since I'd stayed here. It must have been a month or two judging by the dust.  
"The bathroom's the second door on the left and the kitchen is the first door on the right." I called over my shoulder to the others as they still stood and gawked at the existence of my life away from the Doctor. I headed into the kitchen to switch on the power again and get the kettle going so long.  
"So..." I looked up from the mugs to see the other four crowded in the doorway. "Do you have wifi?" I laughed at that. 

I did have wifi.  
Just as a general disclaimer. And the Doctor choked it to death as soon as the others left.  
"Why do you have three laptops playing different Spotify playlists at the same time?" I asked incredulously as I looked around the mess my living room had become. It was a mess of tech and tools with her at the centre.  
"Two are for testing sound waves and one is just for pleasure." She explained like it was obvious.  
"Of course. Need any help?" I offered, expecting her to say no like she usually did when it came to all this tech stuff.  
Except this time she looked up from whatever she was disassembling or assembling and gave me a good stare. "You built that shielding around the property?"  
"Yes." I said curtly, feeling oddly defensive.  
I could have sworn there were stars in her eyes as she looked up at me with the expression she kept for star whales and clever robots. I'd always wanted to be on the receiving end of her patented amazed and slightly in love look, but now that I was I didn't know how to react.  
A part of me wanted to smile back, and look at her like I usually did when she wasn't looking. The rest of me wanted to curl away from the open affection. I'd been on the end of a disapproving glare too many times to forget what it felt like to have the Doctor's scorn directed at you.  
I cleared my throat and shifted uncomfortably under her attention. "So do you want help with whatever you're building?"  
"I'll need five more remote controlled cars, a curtain, a necktie and a cup of tea." She rattled off and I smiled.  
"Coming right up." 

11.  
I had always been in the Doctor's orbit. Whirled along at rocket speed amongst the stars and planets.  
For seven years I'd followed because my heart could not bear to leave the blue box and the mad Time Lord that lived in it.  
I'd never considered what it would be like for her to slow down to my speed. To stop dragging me by my heartstrings as she crashed from one disaster to the next.  
To have her in my garden in the early morning as we sat with a cup of coffee and spoke about the possibility of aliens stealing my vegetables instead of the rabbits. I felt far too soft and content at seeing the Doctor in my too big jersey, in my kitchen and on my couch.  
It was too much. And it was enough.  
After seven years, it was finally enough. 

It ended on a night that was cold and quiet. The proximity alarm tripped and I hurdled out of bed in a panic, I didn't even need to pull the curtain back from the window to see the bright lights of the sleek spaceship that had landed on the grassy hill overlooking my home.  
My breath stuck in my chest as I grabbed the gun tucked under my bed.  
That was the last clear thing that happened. 

The Doctor's hand slipped into mine as I ran out of my room. 

We ran out the front door and across the long driveway together. 

We stood; shoulder to shoulder as the alien Hunter approached. His armour sharp and jagged and weapon glowing in the night.  
My hands tightened around hers and the grip of the gun. 

He got closer. 

The lights flashed. 

He raised his gun and I raised mine, it gleamed dully in the moonlight. The Doctor yelled at me, her hand yanking on mine as she tried to grab for the gun. 

"He won't shoot! Stop!" Her nails dug sharply into my hand. 

The glow of his gun grew brighter and I could hear the high pitched whine as it charged.  
I flicked the safety off and whispered an apology to the Doctor.  
"Put the gun down, he's not going to shoot!"  
He did.  
It was a flash of light speeding towards us in the blink of an eye.  
I pulled the trigger.  
His body dropped and the gunshot echoed for miles around. 

It was suddenly very quiet again. 

12.  
Her hand left mine and I carefully flicked the safety back on before putting the gun on the ground. 

"You just killed him! You didn't give me a chance to speak to him, you just shot first. That's so typical of you! I've always had to reign you in, but I thought that those days were done." She was screaming, hands flying into the air and knocking into my shoulder and pushing at my chest. "Well you know what? You're done. You are never going to step foot into the TARDIS ever again. No more travelling. You're done." 

Her face was twisted into a sneer and her hands were curled into fists. And she was alive.  
"Okay." I said softly.  
She was bursting to say something, to let out the rage she'd put away over the years.  
Instead she turned on her heels and stalked towards the road.  
She didn't look back, she didn't see me start limping painfully back to the house. By the time I'd made it to the door and leaned heavily on it to look back at her there was no sign of her.  
She had been swallowed by the dark.  
I let my head fall against the door frame and strained to stay standing.  
It was over. It was all over.  
I ran my hand along the wall until I found one of the many panic buttons scattered through my house. I slid to the floor and waited. And for the first time in a long time, it wasn't for the Doctor to come get me. 

13.  
"I always knew you'd take me up on that booty call." His voice startled me out of my daze.  
"Jack." I mumbled and felt him lay his hand against my shoulder to stop me from moving. I gripped the arm he held me still with a desperation I hadn't known would be there.  
"She's gone, Jack." His smile dimmed as he understood my garbled words and he leaned forward to pull me into a hug. "She's not coming back for me this time."  
He rubbed slow circles on my back as I started to shake.  
"Let's get you to Torchwood." He said as he punched numbers into his Vortex Manipulator and looped my arm over his shoulders to lift me to my feet. I let out a pained cry as his hand came to rest on my injured waist. He quickly moved it higher up my rib cage and tightened his hold on me as my legs started to give out. I leaned into him and held on tight as the familiar tug at my insides started and we were whipped into the Time Vortex. 

The first thing I heard when we teleported into the Torchwood hub was Jack letting loose a filthy string of swears that were banned in several galaxies.  
"Jesus, Jack." I hissed half from the pain and half from hearing him rattle those words off.  
"Actually it's just Jack." He retorted and I let out a bark of laughter despite myself.  
"I missed you, Just Jack."  
"I missed you too, now stay awake for this great reunion. Ianto, help!" His voice was too loud and I groaned and tucked my head into his chest. Wait, he was carrying me. When did that happen? I could feel Jack talking more than I could hear him now.  
My hands tightened on his jacket, bunching up fistfuls of fabric. I wished that the jacket was leather or tweed or a trench coat. And I wished that the idiot carrying me had two hearts instead of one. One heart just didn't drown out other noise like two did.  
"Doctor." I choked past the building pain.  
"We're gonna fix you, don't worry." Jack murmured and I shook my head as I started to fall into my frantic subconscious. 

How could you fix something without the Sonic Screwdriver, how could I get better without the Doctor?

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a few funny oneshots but it got sad???  
> This is why I can't have nice things.
> 
> There will be another chapter about how the reader outs their life back together after this! If you've got any suggestions for what you'd like to see then let me know!   
> I appreciate any feedback!


End file.
